Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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1084. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department provides specific funding to local authorities for the purposes of refurbishment of vacant social housing stock; if he will detail the amount which has been made available to Wicklow County Council and Wexford County Council for this purpose; the amount which has been drawn down in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59170/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure that all of their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2019.

Notwithstanding the legal obligation on local authorities to manage and maintain their own stock, my Department provides annual funding support to local authorities for management and maintenance under the current Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme.

This funding should supplement LA own resources and not be seen as a substitute for adequate budgeting for housing management and maintenance by local authority officials and elected members as part of their annual budgetary process.

The 2025 Programme will provide funding of €31 million to local authorities to support the refurbishment and re-letting of a minimum of 1,900 homes, and continue the transition from a reactive, voids approach to a Planned Maintenance approach. The following table details the allocation to both Wicklow and Wexford under the 2025 Planned Maintenance/Voids programme.

An annualised breakdown by local authority of the funding provided and the number of properties remediated under the Voids programme is available on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/collection/0906a-other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/#voids-programme

Details in relation to delivery under the 2025 Planned Maintenance/Voids Programme will be available early in 2026.